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Programs used:
Minecraft (for building)
Mcedit (for building)
Blender (for renders)
Paint.net (for pictures)

The Ascelion-class light artillery destroyer was the Renili Navy's attempt to design an advanced next-generation destroyer which would replace the aging Venahra-class, and make up for the Renili Republic's lack of a significant naval presence among the TAUFOG nations of the Permiaphes Sector. During the eighth century of the forty-eight thousands, the Renili Republic had seen a gradual reduction in its effective naval power when compared to neighboring factions, which were rapidly modernizing and expanding in response to the Shadow Fleet Crisis and an uptick in criminal activity. Lagging behind both allies and political opponents, the Renili Navy was tasked with restoring the republic's ability to stand on equal ground with competitors by a joint committee of Vusteth and Kesca-party members in the Renili Chamber of Representatives, who laid out a set of design goals and overall capabilities they believed ships built under the fleet modernization program should be able to satisfy. Critically, the representatives made these decisions without sufficient knowledge of the actual complexity of engineering work that would eventually be required for such a task. Additionally, political pressure by the Chamber's third major party, the Mona'squa, would lead to delays and almost forty billion credits less in funding over ten years of the program. In the early seven hundred-thirties however, these difficulties had yet to manifest, and military contractors and shipyards began vying for contracts.

The contract for an advanced destroyer was secured in 48,726 ACT by Renzal Stardrives, and would be designed, tested, and produced primarily at their company's headquarters in Ortel Prime. A team was assembled with a number of the company's more experienced engineers, led by Tenab Bosph, who worked as the lead structural engineer on the extremely successful mass-market Qual'eti-class destroyer. Immediately the team began to run into technical challenges; the joint committee had outlined a destroyer with significant acceleration, maneuverability, the ability to function as both long-range artillery support and a close direct-combatant in fleet actions, a small complement of strike craft, and numerous safety features. Many of the specific performance metrics exceeded the most advanced Renili warships to that point, such as an acceleration of 16,000 g's, and the ability to engage a category-nine warship without taking any appreciable damage. There were also strict material and personnel limits given. The committee members did not want to push for drafts or any further enlistment efforts, as public opinion for military expansion was not particularly high, so they demanded a high degree of automation, and equipment such as escape pods and extensive life support systems to improve the survivability for crews. On such a small ship, these features proved detrimental, taking up valuable space needed to satisfy the more important technical specifications. All of these difficulties led to engineering compromises.

A finalized concept was presented in 48,729 ACT to the Chamber committee and approved for further development. The design consisted of a narrow main hull with four large propulsion modules attached at the aft, with various inertial systems and powerful secondary thrusters. The main thrusters were more closely integrated with the aft hull, situated between the nacelles. The majority of the destroyer's firepower would be concentrated in four main weapons. Three of these were an unspecified heavy turret, suggested to the committee to be a turbolaser such as the Senirila AI-cebl Gert44 or a different in house design. On the ventral surface would be a fourth main weapon, this one fixed and capable of long-range artillery fire. The Renzal engineering team was hesitant to include such a weapon, as they anticipated significant difficulties with integrating and powering such a large gun on a destroyer frame, but could find no other way to meet both the range and firepower requirements listed in the committee's initial bill for the program. The remaining weaponry included various mid-range and close-range laser cannons, as well as a moderate number of point defense and anti-fighter turrets. The initial design proposal did not include missile tubes; these would be added later as the Ascelion-class's complexity increased.

The initial prototypes of the Ascelion-class would see massive delays and reworks as Bosph's engineering team discovered numerous engineering challenges. Many of these centered around two features: the size limitations imposed by the committee and the classification as a destroyer, and the main fixed weapon system. As the Ascelion was required to fall under the Galactic TIASS standard for destroyers by the committee program, there were limits to the dimensions of the ship, including for both exterior size and displacement. This resulted in a very cramped ship, a problem exacerbated by the need to include bulky escape vehicles and a hangar which would hold shuttles and multiple strike craft. This challenge then compounded the other major difficulty; the main weapon. Given the size constraints, an energy weapon simply was not feasible. There was not enough volume to include the necessary power generation and heat dissipation systems for such a gun. Engineers spent an extended period narrowing down potential solutions, and ultimately settled on a mass accelerator which would fire a hybrid missile-slug bolt at a significant portion of the speed of light. Such a weapon had never been attempted at the scale of the Ascelion, and thus led to multiple delays as engineers tested and troubleshooted prototypes. A second team from Renzal Stardrive's dedicated weapons division was brought on to the project to assist, although this did little to speed up development. The first full-scale prototype began flight tests in 48,735 ACT, and immediate encountered issues with thermal management and structural stability. To meet the desired 16,000 g acceleration, a lighter durathum alloy was used for the hull - however, this led to unexpected vibrations and microfractured in core structural elements, requiring frequent maintenance. Test crews also noted the complexity of the power system. To satisfy the demands of the six thrusters and heavy weapons, there were five reactor cores: a large TSCP-4i annihilation reactor in the main engineering section, and four NC32800b reactors for each of the propulsion nacelles. These were all linked to a central power distribution network, and without careful balancing of the five reactors conduits and other systems would frequently suffer damage and have to be replaced. Most significant for the project were challenges surrounding the main weapon. To accelerate a projectile to approximately 0.72 c, an arrangement of high focus repulsorlifts and a proprietary Oreph-phase acceleration field generator would work in tandem along the length of the gun to build up speed. These systems had to be aligned with an almost impossible degree of precision - misalignment of even one repulsorlift would introduce vibrations to the projectile, making the gun completely inaccurate and damaging internal components due to unexpected forces. The weapon also required far more power than the reactors could continually supply, so a large capacitor bank was installed above the cannon to store a charge which could be quickly expended. Although engineers believed these challenges to be temporary, they did extend the expected completion date of the project by two years, from 48,735 to 48,737 ACT.

Then, one year after full scale testing had commenced, a major failure led to the significant damage and loss of life on the number three prototype during a combat simulation. Subsequent investigations revealed a repulsorlift had become misaligned, due either to hull vibrations during high-g maneuvering testing or because of loose bolts or welds around the barrel of the gun. During a test where the prototype attempted to fire its main gun during an evasive maneuver - an expected battle tactic for the Ascelion - the projectile was thrown out of alignment by the repulsorlift and collided with the weapon's internal structure halfway down the accelerator. Although the projectile did not contain an active warhead for safety reasons, it had already reached approximately 0.62 c, and vaporized a large portion of the ship due to debris and a resulting chain reaction along the main weapon. Thirty one members of the test crew were killed on the ship, with a further twelve dying due to complications from injuries and others left seriously wounded. Debris also caused damage and minor injuries onboard two nearby observation vehicles. The incident led to Tenab Bosph being removed from the team and several other lead engineers being put on probation, as well as lengthy legal actions involving Renzal Stardrives by affected families. Testing was halted until 48,739 ACT, with the other four active prototypes scrapped and extensive redesigns to the main gun. Decreased funding by the chamber committee in the following years further delayed the project, with the first Ascelion-class destroyer being finally commissioned in 48,742 ACT, seven years after it was intended to be completed.

The Ascelion-class's design did not stop experience difficulties after it entered production - there were many issues that would ultimately lead to an early end to production and the retirement of the class. The most significant issue was the complexity of the ship, which featured a dense and tightly integrated collection of systems that proved a nightmare for maintenance workers and crews. Although not as severe, balancing reactor output still proved to be a recurring difficulty, on some occasions causing automatic reactor shutdowns during combat maneuvers due to surges. The Ascelion also struggled in traditional fleet engagements due to its eclectic set of weapons. The majority of its firepower was contained within the main gun and the three railgun turrets, which although accurate could not match the range of energy weapons. This necessitated closer engagements, but the Ascelion's armor and shielding was below standard for a destroyer, leaving it ill-equipped for such encounters. Although the vessel's straight line acceleration was impressive compared to other destroyers of its size, the Ascelion had relatively poor maneuverability at high speed, as significant changes to thruster output stressed reactor cores in such a configuration. Finally, the Ascelion was extremely expensive; not only did the destroyer cost significant more than was typical, the ammunition for the main weapons was itself very advanced and expensive, and the vessel did not have much room to store many rounds, leading to frequent shortages. Faced with higher than expected upkeep costs, and the continued unpopularity of the Ascelion program in the public's eye, only three hundred were eventually commissioned, and the program was cancelled in 48,749 ACT - just seven years after the first ship was completed. Over the coming decades most Ascelions were decommissioned and left in drydock, which a handful falling into the hands of museums and particularly wealthy ship collectors. Most notably, three Ascelion-class destroyers were stolen by the Napo'matil Criminal Syndicate, and would be used in shipping raids and for security around the Permaiphes Sector for over fifteen years until they were hunted down by the GACIAF sector fleet and destroyed.